Customer Reviews

Straw Men, The

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The most important clue from this fabulous piece of suspense was right in front of me, and I never saw it 'til I put the book down after staying up way too late to finish it.

When Teresa Harnett was savagely attacked eight years ago, one of the casualties was her memory. Painstakingly reconstructing it over the following years with the help of her husband, it all starts to come unraveled when the man convicted of that assault, DellaVecchio, is released pending a hearing based on new DNA evidence. The man's voice she hears is no longer the same as the voice whispered in her ear the night of the attack. So she approaches Jim Christensen, a psychologist who testified as an expert on memory at the original trial - and the same man who was now living with the attorney in charge of the defense for DellaVecchio.

Tensions mount as the three weeks before the hearing tick off. Clues are revealed through counseling sessions, reviews of testimony, questioning of key characters, and even present-day events. When I thought it was all figured out, there were still a few niggling details that didn't quite fit, and the attacker almost gets away with it... again.

Marty Smith pulls us along with the investigation, sometimes piecing together the puzzle only moments before the characters. The stunning climactic scenes left me turning pages faster than I could read them, only to have me turn them back to savor the mounting anticipation. A dazzling good read.

Carmen DellaVecchio has been jailed for the last eight years for the alleged rape and attempted murder of police officer Teresa Harnett. It was her testimony that fingered DellaVecchio for the crime and sentenced him to life in prison. His attorney, Brenna Kennedy, sets him free after she finds indisputable DNA evidence proving that Carmen could not have committed the crime. Harnett is shocked by the revelation and begins to question everything that she went through.

Psychologist Jim Christensen is hired by Teresa to try to find out the truth in her fractured mind. She has not fully recovered from her injuries and is still suffering from partial amnesia. She is not confident with her memories and wonders if it has been tampered. Christensen is not convinced on her recollections and believes that she is hiding what really happened eight years ago. During the sessions Harnett confesses that for the last few days she has received threatening phone calls from someone who is not DellaVecchio but who knows the most intimate details of her rape. She is scared and afraid that she will be attacked again. It is not until she finds her old journals that the truth is slowly revealed. There is a conspiracy that cannot afford for Harnett to remember what is in her confused mind. They will do whatever it takes to make sure the truth never comes out and to silence her permanently.

Smith gives his book an interesting approach. Just when you think the story involves one thing it turns out to be something unrelated to the original situation. The twists and turns will keep the reader guessing until it reaches its satisfying conclusion.

The "Memory Series" by Martin Smith just gets better and better. STRAW MEN is the third in the line, and it sucks you in and absorbs you until the last page. At the core of the story is the issue of how reliable are our memories. Could the victim of an attack who suffered amnesia be fed lies so that the "memories" she regains are anything but the truth? A chilling tale that mystery and suspense fans won't want to miss.

Jim Christensen is a psychologist who must try to delve into the damaged mind of Teresa Hartnett. Teresa was the victim of a severe beating and brutal rape six years ago. Her head injuries were so severe that her skull was crushed adversely affecting her memory. Now, Carmen DellaVecchio, the man who was convicted based on her testimony is being released when newly discovered DNA evidence tends to exonerate him. Teresa begins to doubt her own memory and seeks Jim's help to discover the truth. The problem is Jim's girlfriend, Brenna Kennedy, is the DellaVecchio's defense attorney and is mainly responsible for his release. However, things turn quite ominous when both Teresa and Brenna begin receiving threatening calls.
Martin J. Smith can certainly tell a terrifying tale. The reader is quickly drawn into the captivating plot. Characters, as a whole, appear very much true to life. The author makes good use of the Pittsburgh locale. However, it is a clunky exposition that pulls all the loose threads together. Martin J. Smith is a talented writer who has written a book well worthy of the Edgar award in this category.

I've read Straw Men twice now and I think it's Smith's best. I've read all three books and I've seen him growing steadily as a writer and storyteller. In Straw Men he gets down to business early on, establishing a horrific character called the "Scarecrow." In a few words Smith describes this lost soul in a way that makes him both frightening and pitiful. However, the book belongs to psychologist Jim Christiansen who explores the dark corners of the human mind. Jim is an ordinary man caught in an extraordinary situation. He's burdened with knowledge that threatens to unearth many painful buried secrets. As they come to light again, the Pittsburgh police department, and the city itself, is thrown into chaos. There is a particularly well observed relationship between Christiansen and Teresa Harnett, a cop who was nearly killed, allegedly by the Scarecrow. The interplay in these sections is filled with nuance and emotion. This is a book that will keep you up at night, and will live in your mind for years. Read it.

Eight years ago, an assailant attacked Teresa Harnett in her kitchen. The culprit smashed her head with a bottle, rammed her head on the floor several times, raped her, and left a calling card of a broken bottle end inside her vagina. The vicious individual left Teresa for dead, but she was rushed to the hospital and with the help of her loving and caring spouse physically recovers.

However, Teresa's nightmare begins anew because the defense lawyer Brenna Kennedy demands a new trail for her convicted client Carmen DellaVechhio. DNA evidence destroys much of the proof the DA used the first time around. The presiding judge releases the incarcerated individual pending final dismissal of all charges. Teresa begins to wonder if she helped place the wrong person behind bars. Neither Brenna nor Teresa realizes what heartache and murders await them as this case moves into the final stages.

Martin J. Smith is one the most under-appreciated thriller writers on the market today. He consistently provides chillers that deserve a vast audience. His latest winner, STRAW MEN, is loaded with surprises and revelations mostly frightening because they feel real yet are unexpected. Characters from other books by Mr. Smith have evolved as if they share real time with the reader, which adds to the feel of chilling reality. This novel is a thumbs-up legal thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Martin Smith's 'Memory Series' continues...and his novels just seem to get better with every new title. Great suspense, several memorable red-herrings--but, mostly, his characters seem much more three-dimensional than most thriller types these days. A great read--with much to ponder after you put down the book.

I liked the first book in the memory series, "Time Release," a lot, and the second, "Shadow Image," a bit less(though it's still easily better than 90 percent of the mysteries published). In "Straw Men" the author returns to the exquisitely intricate plotting and tormented, morally ambiguous characters that made the first book so great. There's a nice plot twist reminiscent of "L.A. Confidential" (the movie version, not the book), and a subtle but ever-present erotic tension simmering beneath the surface of the story. Jim Christensen is one of the few protagonists in mystery genre who really comes off as an authentic ordinary person. Smart, but not too smart, and far from masterful. He's a genuine soccer dad with coffee stains on his tie who struggles to cope with with the perplexing mysteries of everyday life, as well as the occasional crime.

'Straw Men' is a disappointingly simple book. Mr. Smith guides the reader along a predictable and sometimes aggravatingly obvious path throughout the story. The clues in this mystery novel leave nothing for the reader to deduce on their own.

There is no reason you'll need your brain for this read. Everything will be throughly explained to you and that is what is so sad about it. You are treated like a obtuse three year-old.

If don't think it's suspicious when a beat cop has a $50k Mercedes SUV as a second vehicle, this book might be a good challenge for you. Otherwise stick to James Patterson or James Lee Burke.

I give this book two stars for the sole fact that it takes place in Pittsburgh.

i thought this book was great. Much more than I expected. The
plot twists right up till the end, keeping me guessing. The characters were well written and beleivable. Worthy of the Edgar nomination.